Karuvepillai Idli Podi/ Curry Leaves Spice Powder

Karuvepillai Idli Podi/ Curry Leaves Spice Powder is a wonderful way to make use of curry leaves and enjoy the benefit that it offers. Curry leaves are enriched in iron and they are beneficial for people struggling or battling with stress, diabetes, constipation, morning sickness and nausea and eyesight problems. It helps to reduce heart risk, prevent breast cancer and fight against Alzheimer disease. I would like to share our recipe that is really special and different. We have used Mor Milagai which is a South Indian sun dried cured green chilies. Mor Milagai recipe is a delicious crisp chili which is marinated in yogurt, salt and sun-dried. Later these sun dried chilies are fried in oil and then served along with a bowl of curd rice. It is one of the most popular condiments of the South Indian Cuisine. These chilies are available in any Indian grocery store.

Karuvepillai Idli Podi/ Curry Leaves Spice Powder

INGREDIENTS: 

Curry leaves - 3 cups

White Urad dal/ Ulundhu - 1/2 cup

Roasted Gram dal/ Pottukadalai - 2 tablespoons

Cumin seeds - 2 tablespoons

Cashew nut - 7 pieces

White pepper 1/2 teaspoon

Mor Milagai (South Indian sun-dried chilies)- 5

Salt to taste

METHOD:

1. First, wash curry leaves and drain them in a colander to remove excess water.

Pat them dry with a clean paper towel. Spread them evenly on a cotton cloth or towel and allow to air dry for 2 to 3 days. This process is needed to retain the beautiful green color of the leaves while making powder. 

2. Dry roast the urad dal till aromatic or slightly brown in color. 

3. Next, dry roast the cumin, Mor Milagai, gram dal (Pottukadalai), cashew nuts and white pepper as well.

4. Grind all the ingredients into smooth powder. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate it for a longer shelf life. 

5. This curry leaves podi can be taken as an accompaniment with idli, thosai or even add a teaspoon of this powder and some gingerly oil to your piping hot rice. Good way to fully utilize the benefit of curry leaves in your everyday diet. 

Thank you

Abby 

Village Style Potato and Plantain Avial

This is a very different Avial, it is basically a typical village style of presentation of this dish. It mainly uses solid vegetables like potatoes, plantains (raw banana), carrot and long beans are just optional vegetables added in this dish. Most of the Avial recipes use green chilies, cumin or curd as a main ingredients. Our family prefer this recipe better, and I would also try the common variety of Avial the next time. It is best served with piping hot rice. 

Potato and Plantain Avial

INGREDIENTS: 

Medium sized potatoes - 3

Two small Plantains - 2

Carrot - 1

Long beans - 7 pieces (optional)

Salt to taste

FOR AVIAL MASALA PASTE :

Dry red chilies - 4 to 5

Fennel seeds - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Poppy seeds/ Kasa kasa - 1/2 teaspoon

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 teaspoon

TO TEMPER :

Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons

Cinnamon stick - 1/2 inch piece

Mustard - 1 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Large red onion - 1

Curry leaves - a sprig

TO GARNISH :

Chopped coriander leaves

METHOD:

1. First, cut potatoes and plantains into big cubes and put into salted water to avoid from changing color. Cut carrots into big chunks as well. Chop the long beans 3 inches length wise.

2. Dice the red onion and keep aside. 

3. Time to make Avial paste, grind all the given ingredients under the 'FOR AVIAL MASALA PASTE' into smooth paste by adding enough water. 

4. To the heated pan, add some oil and once the oil is nice and hot, add all the ingredients under the 'TO TEMPER' section. Sauté the onion and curry leaves until fragrant. 

5. Next, add the masala paste and sauté for 3 minutes. Then, start adding potatoes and plantains that are nicely washed to remove the salt. Followed by carrot and long beans. 

6. Add enough water to cook the vegetables thoroughly. Once the vegetables are cooked to perfection and the curry has reduced, switch off the flame.

7. Lastly, garnish with lavish sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves.

8. Serve hot with rice. 

Thank you

Abby 

Rice, Moong dal, Fox Millet Payasam- Arisi Thinai Payasam

Payasam is an Indian sweet pudding sort of dessert. The goodness that comes along with this dessert proven to be nutritious because of the Fox millet or Thinai and rice and moong dal powder. Fox millet has a lot of protein when compared to  other plant based food. So, I believe it is a guilt free dessert that you can prep up easily with the ingredients you have in your kitchen pantry. Plus, I have used jaggery (Vellam) or Indian brown sugar as a natural sweetener which is high in iron. Aromatic spices like cardamom and saffron are good for your digestion and gives natural color without any artificial food color and preservatives. This recipe is really forgiving, you can improvise and substitute with unsweetened almond milk to keep the dessert gluten free. The aromatic spices can be replaced by vanilla bean paste to give the pudding custard like flavor and taste. Do give a try because it is a healthy delicious dessert to start your day with a smile.

Rice, Moong dal, Fox Millet Payasam- Arisi Thinai Payasam

INGREDIENTS: 

Homemade rice and moong dal powder - 5 heaped teaspoons

Homemade Fox millet/ thinai powder - 3 heaped teaspoons

Full cream milk powder - 6 heaped tablespoons

Salted butter - 4 tablespoons

Jaggery/ brown sugar - 3/4 cup (reduce if you want less sweet payasam)

Cashew nuts - 10 

Water - 9 cups (For thinner payasam)

Cardamom - 4

Saffron - a pinch

METHOD:

1. First, using full cream milk powder and boiling water, I made milk. 

2. Then, take 1/2 cup water to dilute the jaggery in a  heated pan. When the jaggery has completely dissolved, strain the jaggery to get clear syrup without impurity. 

3. Third process is frying the nuts. Heat up a pan, melt the butter and start frying the any nuts of your choice and cardamom. You can add more nuts if you like them. I don't prefer to add raisin in payasam as the milk tend to curdle.

4. Bring the prepared milk to boil by adding enough water to make thinner payasam. You have to gauge the consistency of the payasam. If you prefer your payasam to be thicker, reduce the water and for thinner payasam, add more water. 

5. After the milk has started boiling, gradually add in homemade Thinai powder and the homemade Rice and Moong Dal powder. Whisk it until there is no lump seen. Keep stirring until the concoction come to rolling boil. At this stage, after adding all the powder, it will get thicken. So at this point, decide whether to add more water for thinner or thicker payasam. 

6. After it had cooked well, lastly add, fried nuts, saffron, cardamom as well as the melted butter. 

7. Last but not least is the sugar syrup. While adding the jaggery syrup, taste the payasam. If it is sweet enough, you may not need to add all the syrup. Allow it to simmer for 2 minutes. Turn off the flame. After adding the jaggery syrup, you may not need to boil further as this will curdle the milk.

8. Serve the payasam hot or chilled. 

Thank you

Abby 

Tomato Chutney- Version 2

When you feel lazy to prepare chutney for your idli or thosai, tomato chutney is as easy as ABC. It can be prepared in jiffy. Any working woman can prepare this in no time, and the beauty of this chutney is that you can change its consistency according to the type of dishes you wish to have it with. Slightly loose or thick depends on your choice. I like it in between. We at home prefer to have this chutney when making upma, ven pongal, idli and thosai. It has nice sweet tang from the ripe tomatoes. Ripe tomatoes are the important ingredients, green tomatoes don't work with this recipe. Adding asafoetida also a taste changer. So don't skip any ingredients. 

Tomato Chutney- Version 2

INGREDIENTS: 

Large tomato - 1 

Medium sized red onion - 1

Red chili powder - 1 teaspoon

Green chilies - 3 to 4

Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tablespoons

Salt to taste

TO TEMPER:

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Mustard - 3/4 teaspoon

Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon

Curry leaves - a few

METHOD:

1. Heat a pan with a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Then, add all the ingredients under the 'TO TEMPER' section. Allow the mustard to sputter and urad dal to brown slightly.

2. Chuck in chopped onion and green chilies and sauté for a while. Then, followed by diced tomato pieces, red chili powder and salt to taste. Again sauté for a while until the tomato is mushy. 

3. After that, add a cup of hot water to further cook the tomato and slightly thickens up to chutney or dipping sauce consistency. Some people prefer their chutney to be water and some prefer thicker one. I like mine to be in between. 

4. Lastly, after switching off the flame, sprinkle some coriander leaves. Serve this chutney or Indian style of dipping sauce with your favorite idli, tosai or chapati or bread. 

Thank you

Abby 

Cauliflower, Carrot and Potato Masala

Cauliflower, carrots, potatoes and peas are the perfect combo for making Indian style of dry masala gravy that really compliments rice dishes or flatbread dishes. If you wish to add some button mushroom, please go ahead. It works beautifully, but I didn't have mushrooms or peas in stock so I had to skip. I do believe that frozen peas and coconut give such a mellow sweet flavor in contrast to the heat from the dry red chilies. It's a wonderful tasty dish to try at home. The chilies can be reduced to suit your taste preference.   

Cauliflower, Carrot and Potato Masala

INGREDIENTS: 

Cauliflower florets - 5 cups

Chopped carrots - 3 cups

Potatoes - 2

Peas - 1/2 cup (optional)

Large red onion - 1

Medium sized tomatoes - 2

Chopped coriander leaves - handful

TO TEMPER :

Cinnamon - 2 inches stick

Star anise - 3

Green cardamom - 1 pod

Oil - 3 tablespoons

FOR PASTE :

Grated coconut - 3/4 cup
Garlic - 7 cloves

Ginger - 1 inch size

Fennel - 1 teaspoon

Black peppercorns - 1/2 teaspoon

Cumin - 1/2 teaspoon

Dry red chilies - 5 (reduce the chilies if you can't stand the heat)

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Chop carrots and potatoes into bigger chunks. Cut cauliflower into bite size florets. Blanch all vegetables in the hot water with some salt. Blanch the frozen peas as well if using (I didn't use it here).

2. Start by putting a pan and heat it up with two tablespoons of oil. Add all the ingredients under the 'TO TEMPER' section, followed by chopped onion. Sauté the onion until translucent. Then add in chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook until tomatoes are slightly soften.

3. Make a smooth paste by adding enough water with all the ingredients under the 'FOR PASTE' section. Add the masala paste after the tomatoes have become mushy. Stir the paste for 5 minutes until the raw smell has gone. You will find oil oozing slightly around the edge. 

4. Now, all the chopped vegetable go into the pan, and stir them gently to coat the masala paste evenly onto the vegetables. Add some water to cook the vegetables thoroughly. You can even put a lid for ten minutes. 

5. Once the vegetables are cooked to perfection and the gravy has simmered under the low flame reducing into thick dry masala gravy. That should be the sign to switch off the flame. Sprinkle a lavish amount of coriander leaves. 

Thank you

Abby 

Homemade Maggi Magic Masala Tastemaker Powder

This recipe is taken from the Hebbars Kitchen. You can use Maggi magic tastemaker powder for making fried noodles, spaghetti, fried rice and so on. The taste and flavor is almost close to the seasoning powder sold in Maggi noodle packet. It enhances the taste of your dish like magic. You become a pro by adding a dash of this powder in all your savory dishes. I have tried using this tastemaker in some recipes and will update the recipe here later. For now, you can use your creativity to bring your special dishes with the use of this tastemaker from Hebbars Kitchen. Thanks Hebbars.

Homemade Maggi Magic Masala Tastemaker Powder

INGREDIENTS: 

Coriander seeds - 1/4 cup

Cumin - 2 tablespoons

Fennel - 1 teaspoon

Fenugreek - 1/4 teaspoon

Bay leaf/biryani leaf - 2

Cinnamon - 1 inch stick

Cloves - 6

Cardamom- 5 pods

Chili powder - 1 tablespoon

Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon

Dry ginger powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Garlic powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Onion powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Dry mango powder - 1 teaspoon

Brown sugar - 1 teaspoon

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. In a pan, under the low flame, dry roast all ingredients except for the powder type. Roast them just for a while, let's say for 5 minutes. When you touch the ingredients, they should be hot to touch. That's the rule of thumb. 

2. Along with the roasted spices, grind all the powder together. You should get a fine powder.

3. Store this in an air tight container and keep it refrigerated. 

Thank you

Abby 

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Crispy Fluffy Ulundhu Bonda with a TWIST ( Crispy Fluffy Urad Dal Fritters or savory donut balls)

This happened to be an accidentally discovered recipe. We had urad dal soaking for a good 4 to 5 hours in the water and later it was ground into smooth fluffy batter with some water for at least 30 minutes(Do not add a lot of water, we need fairly thick consistency batter). The batter has to double in size and become pale, that's how you know it's fluffy. If you are using wet mixer or blender then you need to pause in between your grinding or use cold water to avoid the mixer getting hot. We don't want our batter to become hot in the grinding process as it will lead towards hard and dense bonda which is completely a 'No No' sign. Since the dal was a good quality one, it produced extremely  thick fluffy batter. The batter was airy just like the beaten egg whites. We thought apart from making vadai which would consume more oil with that much of airiness. So, an idea struck, why not make bonda/ fritter/ savory donut balls with besan and rice flour to minimize the absorption of oil while frying. It was unbelievably tasty and good. With the additional mixture of coriander leaves and green chilies, it was excellent savory option for an evening snack. The bite size donut balls are perfect when dipped in your favorite chili sauce condiment. Give a try and please do leave a comment below. 

Crispy Fluffy Ulundhu Bonda with a TWIST ( Crispy Fluffy Urad Dal Fritters or savory donut balls)

INGREDIENTS: 

Fluffy Ulundhu maavu / White Urad dal batter - 1 cup

Kadala maavu / Besan flour - 4 heap teaspoons

Coriander leaves - 3 tablespoons

Green chilies - 3 

Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Oil - to deep fry

METHOD:

1. For this recipe you will need fluffy ulundhu/ urad dal batter which you grind for making vadai. I used wet grinder for this process. 

2. Soak urad dal/ ulundhu for four hours and grind until light fluffy adding some water. Remember do not add a lot of water otherwise the fritter or bonda will absorb more oil when frying.

3. Take a cup of batter, whisk it to produce more air and fluffiness so that it it crispy in the outside and soft in the inside.

Fluffy batter with besan and rice flour

4. To this batter add besan/kadala flour and rice flour. Then finely chop in coriander leaves and green chilies. 

Addition of coriander leaves and green chilies

5. Add salt to taste and asafoetida is a must. 

6. Prepare a wider pan for seep frying process with enough oil to submerge the fritters.

6. With the help of two tablespoons, form medium sized balls and drop them into the hot oil. Drain the bonda or fritters in a paper towel placed inside a colander.

Bonda/fritter/donut balls frying in the oil

 

7. Serve hot with chili sauce or ketchup or siracha (Korean hot and spicy sauce).

Thank you

Abby